Review: 2011 marks another incredible year for Women's Soccer, including an OAC title and tourney appearances
ADA — The 2011 Ohio Northern women's soccer team had a season for the record books. The team finished 16-3-2 overall and won the OAC Regular Season championship by going a perfect 9-0.
The team also made its second appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and notched the program's first win in the tourney.
The Polar Bears also set a school records with its 16 wins and posting a 15-game unbeaten streak.
Ohio Northern opened its season against Wooster and picked up a tough 3-2 victory. They would then travel to New Jersey for the Stevens Engineering Cup, where they fell to NYU and tied with the hosting Ducks.
The loss to NYU was the last loss the Polar Bears would have for almost two months.
The unbeaten streak featured some impressive and dominating victories.
The Polar Bears would pick up a solid 3-1 road win at Wittenberg and earned a 0-0 tie at home to regionally-ranked foe Denison.
Ohio Northern kicked off its OAC schedule with a dominating 4-0 win over Muskingum and would continue to roll picking up wins over Mount Union and Capital.
Northern would face a stiff test when it traveled to two-time defending OAC champion Otterbein but the Polar Bears responded with a 3-0 victory.
The team would cruise through the rest of their OAC schedule and lock up the top seed and home field advantage throughout the OAC tournament.
Unfortunately, the Polar Bears would be upset in the OAC semifinals by John Carroll but were still selected to play in and host the opening rounds NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament.
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the Polar Bears picked up a nail-biting 1-0 overtime victory over Scranton (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Ohio Northern's season would come to a close with a 1-0 loss to Ithaca (N.Y.) in the second round.
Northern finished the season ranked 13th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and 16th by D3Soccer.com.
Additionally, junior Tara Tokar was named NSCAA All-America Third Team to become the program's second All-American, and joined senior Chelsea Chadwick and sophomore Sami Atkinson as All-Great Lakes regional team selections. Tokar and Atkinson were named First Team while Chadwick was named Second Team.
Chadwick also earned OAC Defender of the Year and First Team All-Conference laurels, leading a total of eight Polar Bears on the All-OAC teams.
Chadwick scored a goal and notched an assist and was the core of the defense that led the league with .65 goals-against average.
Also earning First Team All-OAC honors were Tokar, Atkinson and senior Alyssa Merrick.
Tokar was named First Team All-OAC for the third straight year as she recorded three goals and two assists on the season.
Atkinson led the team and league in points (30) and ended up tied for the OAC league in goals (12).
Merrick played midfielder all season and recorded 13 assists, which was second in the OAC. She added seven goals and finished fourth in the league with 27 points.
Sophomore Abbie Schauble and freshman Kristina Klusek both earned All-OAC Second Team accolades.
Schauble started every game for Northern as a midfielder and recorded three goals and five assists.
Kluskek finished second on the team and in the OAC in points with 29 and tied for first in the league with 12 goals. She also notched the game-winning goal in the NCAA First Round victory.
Junior defender Paige Garber led a defense that gave up only 14 goals. Her efforts earned her an Honorable Mention All-OAC.
Also earning an OAC Honorable Mention was junior goalkeeper Erin Waehner. She recorded eight shutouts on the year while posting a 16-3-2 record.
Head coach Mark Batman recorded his 100th win as Northern's leader when the Polar Bears defeated Baldwin-Wallace in mid-October. Batman's career record at Ohio Northern is now 105-42-13.
His leadership was rewarded, as the NSCAA named him Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year.